One man\’s year-long journey through the world of baseball

This one’s at least a month old, but nobody publicizes Dutch signings, and I just heard about it yesterday. Surprise, surprise, the most recent signing out of the Netherlands belongs to the Seattle Mariners, who cast the widest net by far of any major league team.

The newest European addition to the Mariners system is 16 year old pitcher Ramon Romeijn. I don’t have much information about the kid’s size or repertoire, but I do know he was one of only two fifteen year olds invited to participate in the 2006 MLB European Academy. I am unclear on whether Romeijn signed an ’06 or an ’07 contract, but my guess is he signed this year and will not appear in affiliated ball until the ’08 season.

Romeijn, who (unofficially) signed for $92,000, is the Mariners’ third Dutch signing in the past 4 years. The team spent $100,000 on outfielder Greg Halman back in 2004, a year after Halman was named MVP of the Dutch Professional League at the age of fifteen. While “best baseball player in Holland” might not sound like much, the Netherlands has by far the strongest baseball league in either Europe or Africa, and dozens of ex-minor leaguers occupy spots on Holland’s Honkball rosters. For more information on Halman, check out Prospect Insider‘s scouting report.

During the ’06 signing period, the Mariners signed 20 year old Dutch outfielder Kalian Sams for $75,000. Sams, who will apparently start the year in low-A Wisconsin, has not played professional ball yet, but scouting reports say he runs extremely well for an athlete his size (he’s listed at 6’3, 220) and has a major league quality RF arm.

About

I’m currently working on a year-long research project on the globalization of baseball, courtesy of the Thomas J. Watson Foundation. Over the next 12 months, my project will take me to the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Australia, Puerto Rico, Okinawa, and Venezuela, and I decided to set up this blog to share some of the things I pick up along the way.